The 2016 Olympic Games will not be affected by the economic slump or the scandal engulfing Brazil’s government and its national oil company, according to organising committee’s communications director Mario Andrada.

Construction projects for the Games, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016, are back on track and will not be held up, despite the worrying prospect that some contractors may be linked to the scandal, Andrada said in an exclusive interview with HOST CITY.

He also said the state government needs to be mobilised to clean up the sailing venue in Guanabara Bay in time.

Brazil’s economy was booming when Rio de Janeiro was awarded the hosting rights in 2009 but the economy failed to grow in 2014 and remains depressed.

The country’s problems are compounded by the fact that several politicians and companies have been implicated in bribery issues relating to national oil producer, Petrobras.

“Brazil is going through a political and an economic crisis,” Andrada said. 

“Petrobras has very complicated issues to manage. Some of the top Brazilian companies have been affected by this because they have been involved in corruption scandal.

“That’s worrying on our side because of the construction work on the Olympic Games.”

While the organising committee is not itself implicated in the scandal – “We are not connected to these allegations in any way, shape or form” – any contractors found to be connected to the Petrobras scandal will be taken off Olympic projects. 

The organisers of the Games have prepared for this by ensuring that venue construction projects are contracted to more than one company.

“Each of the venues is being delivered by two or more construction companies. So if one of them is facing trouble through the Petrobras scandal due to lack of finance, the other companies are able to carry on.

“So far we have been able to be immune to this situation because the construction system guarantees that one of the companies hired for the job will do the job.”

Rio 2016 came under fire last year for a seriously delayed start to venue construction work but it is now on track. 

“It’s not easy to sail through stormy waters, but we have been able to keep the pace,” said Andrada. 

The International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission visited Rio de Janeiro in February and gave an overall positive assessment but identified areas of concern, such as the sailing venue. 

“It was a very favourable visit but we have an issue in Guanabara Bay where the sailing competitions will take place,” said Andrada.

“We need to be more effective in cleaning the bay and helping the government to clean the bay. 

“It’s a matter of mobilising the government. It’s a huge project that involves 12 counties around the bay, so it can only be carried out by the state government.

“The point is to help them to get technicians and experts to work together.”

The test event for sailing starts on 15th August 2015. 

“We still have time to clean it up and to make sure the field of play will be totally clean. Everybody needs to push in the right direction.” 

Construction work on the Olympic Park in Barra has made huge strides since the IOC voiced concerns a year ago, Andrada said, with the work clearly visible above ground. 

“There is a huge amount of things to do but everything is moving in the way we want it to. We are cautiously optimistic but confident.”

Despite the economic slowdown, the organising committee is managing to operate with completely private finance. 

“We are still running the organising committee with private money. This will probably be the first Olympic Games in history where the organising committee did all its work without public funding.

“I believe the Games are the good news for Brazil in the middle of the Petrobras scandal and all the political issues.” 

Mario Andrada was a VIP speaker at HOST CITY Bid to Win and is set to speak again at HOST CITY 2015: The Largest Meeting of Cities, Sports, Business and Cultural Events. Book your place now by contacting adam.soroka@cavendishgroup.co.uk

HBK Contracting Company has laid the first concrete above ground at Al Wakrah stadium, the first of five new venues being built to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

“We have started laying the foundation of 168 m3 of structural concrete in our east slab,” said Abdulla Al-Marri, senior project engineer at the Al Wakrah Precinct. 

“This is an important achievement, being the first above-ground casting of concrete at the site which will incorporate the structural elements to begin vertical construction.”

To lay the concrete slab at double the usual speed, HBK is using two pumps that work simultaneously.

The foundations of the stadium will feature 84 concrete piles, measuring 19 m by 1.2 m. Enabling works contractor HBK has poured 55 of these so far, the first pile being cast in December 2014, a year after the designs and location of the first new venue for the 2022 World Cup were made public.

According to the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, the organisation responsible for hosting the World Cup, a top priority now for the enabling works contractor is to cast the remaining foundations to allow the Main Work Contractor to start building the stadium on these foundations. 

The Supreme Committee also identified completing drainage works and excavations around the stadium as a priority for HBK.

According to the Supreme Committee, HBK has completed over one million Lost Time Accident (LTA) free man-hours. 

“We observe that all safety measures are in place before works starts and we reward safety practices every month,” said Al-Marri. 

The Al Wakrah site is to hold a “safety fair” in March as part of regular safety training across all Supreme Committee sites. 

The stadium will have 40,000 seats during the World Cup, with 20,000 seats on the upper tiers to be removed after 2022 and sent to developing countries in need of sporting infrastructure.

The stadium will be the future home of Al Wakrah Sports Club. It will be surrounded by approximately 560,000 m2 (60 ha) of legacy precinct with a new sports centre and community facilities including a park, mosque, school, hotel, wedding hall, vocational training centre and retail outlets. 

(Source: HOK) A new cultural landmark is in the works for Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Yas Arena will be the first multipurpose built arena in the city designed to accommodate a wide variety of sport and entertainment events. The facility’s dynamic form and illuminated lantern facade is intended to both complement and animate the expanding waterfront promenade at Yas Bay.HOK, a leader in International sport and entertainment design, is part of the WSP-led team responsible for delivering the design of Yas Arena, with support from Pascall+Watson. The team was engaged by Miral Asset Management, the entity responsible for the development of the broad southern part of Yas Island.  In addition to the architectural design of Yas Arena, HOK also designed the adjacent arena retail and dining destination along the boardwalk, forming a mixed-use anchor on the east end of Yas Bay.

“Our goal is to create an exceptional entertainment experience for fans and spectators,” said John Rhodes, a director of HOK’s Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice. “Yas Arena will be the centrepiece of the development and serve as a destination on Yas Island.”

HOK designed Yas Arena to create an intimate, highly flexible and efficient venue with excellent acoustics that can be used year-round for a variety of sport and entertainment events.

“Our team knew the building needed to be smart, adaptable and technologically-advanced in order to efficiently transform for the wide variety of events the client wished to host,” added Rhodes. “This transformability will make Yas Arena one of the most sophisticated arenas in the world.”

The arena is designed to expand from an intimate 500-seat theatre to an 18,000-capacity venue, maximizing revenue and supporting a wide variety of events. This focus on flexibility carries over to premium and back-of-house spaces. The arena is designed to adapt to create the ideal user experience for a diverse set of events, including community gatherings, concerts, performances, sporting events, and meetings and conventions.

Premium spaces include a VIP lounge that can be transformed into a grand ballroom for events, hospitality boxes and unique terrace bars for receptions and parties.

Additional amenities, including food and beverage, will be located adjacent to the arena to create a linear street that stretches down the waterfront promenade. This outdoor concourse will create a festival-like atmosphere to generate year-round activity. The outdoor concourse will provide connectivity to the surrounding district on Yas Bay.

“The development of the UAE’s first 18,000 capacity-arena will place Yas Island among the leaders for performance and events venues.” said Jonathan Brown, development director of Miral Asset Management. “We’re proud to set a new benchmark in the industry as we provide visitors with even bigger and better events to enjoy—all of which will perfectly showcase Yas Island’s excellence and vivacity.”

Yas Island is a new multipurpose leisure, shopping and entertainment destination that includes a hotel cluster, the Yas Marina F1 circuit and a growing number of theme parks. Yas Arena will be located directly on the waterfront and serve as an anchor for the promenade that will feature more than 50 cafes and restaurants, 20 retail outlets, a recreational pier, two hotels and a beach club.

A seasonal storm in the World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte damaged the Mineirao stadium over the weekend, Xinhua news agency reports.

Parts of the roof flew onto the pitch of the recently rebuilt stadium in Belo Horizonte just before a state championship match on Saturday.

Mineirao will host six matches during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and US$300 million have been spent on redeveloping the stadium.

Video footage published by Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo showed three metallic plates landing onto the pitch less than one hour before the match, according to Xinhua.

Such storms are not unusual at this time of year, according to a weather institute in the state of Minas Gerais. More than 10cm of rain had fallen in three hours, with winds of up to 36km per hour.

The manager of Cruziero football team, which played on Saturday’s match, complained of the standard of the pitch. According to Xinhua, he said "Questions have to be asked. Is this pitch up to FIFA standard? I think the quality needs to be better.”

Host City invited the Belo Horizonte World Cup Organising Committee to comment on the incident at Mineirao but has yet to receive a response.

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke voiced concerns about the readiness of World Cup venues at a press conference at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich on Saturday.

"We are almost at 100 days before the first game starts in a stadium in Sao Paulo which is still not ready and won't be ready until May 15. And as you know another two stadiums [in Curitiba and Manaus] are quite late.

"For sure, the stadiums are beautiful but now it is a challenge for the organisers. And that is not a criticism. It is just a challenge. We have to find the solutions."